


Broken Promises

by yuletide_archivist



Category: 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-16
Updated: 2007-12-16
Packaged: 2018-01-25 05:39:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1634468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wade is a man of his word. Or at least he tries to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Promises

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks go to  <lj user= skaryma> for her invaluable help on this story.
> 
> Written for Aria

 

 

Ben Wade was an extremely observant man. He could glance around a room and   
accurately describe everything in it from how many people were in the room right down   
to the color of the saloon girl's brassiere. It was a skill he practiced and refined over the   
years until sometimes it seemed as if he was damn near psychic. But as much as Ben   
wanted to say that he'd always been that perceptive, he'd be lying if he did. Ben gained   
that talent the same way that he gained most of his knowledge: the hard way, through   
the unforgiving school of life.

When Ben was a young boy, he used to lose himself between the pages of a book for   
hours on end, reading about the wild and daring adventures of William Quantrill, Jesse   
James, Black Bart, and Tiburcio Vasquez. Or sometimes he'd lie on the grass and stare   
mindlessly at the sky as he recreated the scenes of mythic battles using the clouds   
above him.

But Ben's days of self-absorption came crashing to an end when he looked up from his   
Bible--after reading the last word in Revelations--and realized that he'd let time--and   
his mother--escape him while he sat on the little bench at the train station platform.   
Shortly after that happened, Ben promised himself two things: the first was that he   
would never again get so wrapped up in something that he lost track of what's going on   
around him, and the second was that he'd pay attention to everything, note every   
detail--no matter how insignificant it might seem--because Ben wanted to ensure that   
_nothing_ ever slipped by him again.

The tricky part about making a promise, though--even if it was only to yourself--was   
that it took next to no effort to make one, but a helluva lot of effort to keep it. They   
also tended to be fairly shortsighted, because they rarely took into account the   
situations that could crop up in the future.

Ben tried his hardest to keep both promises--and for the most part he was successful.   
Ben became very observant--a knack that helped to turn him into a better con man and   
eventually earned him the notice of a prominent gang leader.

Eventually, Ben grew weary of being another man's lap dog--on getting by on the   
scraps he received--and he formed a posse of his own. Ben ran his gang with an iron   
fist, so that no one in it would question his authority, while he also gave them the   
freedom to speak their piece. But make no mistake, if he disagreed with what they had   
to say _too_ strongly, Ben had no problem with taking them out of the equation   
and replacing them with someone else.

No, Ben had no difficulty keeping that second promise. It was the first one that kept   
getting him into trouble.

The first time that Ben drifted off, he narrowly avoided getting shot in the gut by a   
grungy, underfed teenager trying to make a quick buck to buy some food, drink, and   
maybe even rent lodging for the night. Some fast talking and a hot meal from Ben   
gained him the gratitude of that scraggly, wild-eyed teen who eventually grew into the   
most brutal, deadly, and loyal man he'd ever met but nothing could excuse Ben's lapse   
of attention that day.

Ben promised himself that he'd never let it happen again, but it did. The next time that   
it happened, it's because of a girl he met going by the name of Velvet. Her voice was   
just as soft as her name, and her eyes were as green as emeralds. Those eyes drew   
him in, drew him under, and Ben lost all touch with reality. Until the door crashing into   
the wall under the force of a hard kick heralded the arrival of the local sheriff, and   
earned him a one way ticket to Yuma.

Charlie wasn't the only one cursing up a storm after _that_ little fiasco and the   
ensuing trip to the prison. It took Ben weeks to find a way out of the penitentiary.   
When he broke out, he went back to Boston to find his green-eyed goddess, but she'd   
already moved on.

Once again, Ben strengthened his resolve not to let himself get distracted--get lost in   
the moment so deeply that things slipped by him--and with the exception of a few   
close calls, he'd been successful.

At least until that damn rancher showed up.

Before he'd met Dan, men weren't something that appealed to his more...carnal side.   
Long stretches of time between cities, constantly being on the run, and long, lonely   
nights with nothing but your own two hands to entertain you made some men a little   
less picky about who they found their relief with. And even though Ben wasn't one of   
them--preferring to hold out for a warm bed (or at least a flat surface) and a soft pair   
of breasts--he didn't begrudge them scratching their itches amongst themselves.

Ben even knew that Charlie--crazy, reliable, and ruthless Charlie--viewed him in a   
slightly romantic light. But Charlie never acted on those impulses--at least not with   
him--and Ben never saw a reason to bring it up.

Women from all over the country tried to capture Ben's attention--and for the most   
part they succeeded--garnering a few minutes of his favor here and there.

Dan was the first person to make Ben sit up and notice him in old, yet completely new   
and terrifying ways. All Dan had to do was look at Ben and the world would narrow   
down to just the two of them.

And it didn't just happen once. Once he could have forgiven himself for. No, it kept   
happening over and over again, like a nightmare that Ben couldn't wake up from.

It happed just after the stagecoach heist as Ben and his men were about to leave with   
their stolen loot. It was the rancher's eyes that caught his attention and held it for an   
indeterminate amount of time. Although his eyes weren't green, they were the prettiest   
shade of brown that he'd ever seen. They reminded Ben of hot desert nights spent   
outside with his mother and father, a past he didn't allow himself to remember because   
of his parents' betrayal: his father through his untimely death and his mother through   
her desertion.

Ben thought that he saw a similar spark of interest in Dan's eyes, but Ben didn't have   
the time to find out if he was right, or if it was even an option he wanted to explore.   
Besides, Ben needed to put some distance between himself and the wreckage of the   
stagecoach before the Pinkertons figured out that they weren't getting their money and   
started coming after him.

It happened in the little bar in Bisbee when Ben was about to walk out the door.   
Thoughts of the barmaid and a little house in Mexico were already fading into   
nothingness when Ben saw Dan leaning against the bar. There was something about   
the look on Dan's face just then that made Ben forget that he was a hunted man--  
made him want stay in this man's presence for a few minutes longer. This was all the   
time Marshall Weathers needed in order to sneak inside and arrest him.

Glaring at Dan as the Marshall steered him out the door, Ben thought that he saw that   
same flicker of emotion--mixed with a little confusion--underneath the smugness,   
anger, and fear, but then they pushed him out the door and towards the sheriff's office   
for processing.

It happened just inside the Indian Trail when Dan escorted Ben to some bushes a little   
distance away from the campsite to commune with nature. This time it was the   
moonlight and the shadows that chased each other across Dan's features that conspired   
to seduce Ben, distracted Ben from noticing the Comanche in the hillside until it was   
almost too late. That's when Ben realized that he had to put as much distance between   
himself and Dan as he could--for both their sakes.

Of course, running away from Dan didn't do Ben a damn bit of good. Ben was acting on   
instinct instead of thinking, which was pretty ironic since he'd killed a man two days ago   
for doing the same thing. It was the only excuse he had for going into the railroad   
camp in broad daylight instead of waiting for the cover of night.

A couple hours later, Dan swooped in like an avenging angel with his ragtag posse in   
order to `save' Ben, and for a moment--just one fleeting moment--Ben could read   
Dan's thoughts just as clearly as he knew Dan could read his. As they raced out the   
mountainside ahead of their pursuers, Ben knew that Dan owned him.

But Ben could see that Dan didn't completely understand what that meant, although the   
underlying attraction was still there simmering beneath the surface.

Nor did Dan seem to understand that he also belonged to Ben.

Ben and Dan were like trains hurtling towards each other in the middle of the night,   
and they eventually ended up crashing together once they reached Conjunction.

If they hadn't been left alone inside the bridal suite, things might not have turned out   
the way that they did. But the boy was sent to the outskirts of town to keep an eye out   
for Ben's posse and Mr. Butterfield scurried out of the room like a nervous rabbit to get   
reinforcements.

Ben couldn't have asked for a better setup. Not that he had much of a choice in the   
matter. And the second that Dan let his guard down, Ben jumped him.

Their frenzied coupling on the bed was a far cry from perfect. Ben at least had a   
general idea of what to expect after stumbling in on a heated clinch between Charlie   
and another man. But what Dan lacked in experience, he more than made up for in   
enthusiasm and an intense receptiveness. Despite the awkwardness and nervousness   
that plagued them throughout the entire act, they were still able to come to an   
extremely satisfying end.

Ben's only regret was that they didn't have more time to spend with each other in that   
room before they were forced out by circumstances--and the appearance of Charlie   
Prince.

Unfortunately for Ben, it appeared as if he was eternally destined to break his first   
promise to himself. But instead of hurting himself, it cost him Dan's life. Because this   
time when Ben's attention slipped, it was just after he jumped onto the train. Ben   
remembered turning around and smiling at Dan, happy that he was able to give Dan   
this one little thing, even if they both knew that Ben wouldn't make it to Yuma. Or if he   
did, it wouldn't be for a lengthy amount of time.

But when the shots rang out from behind Dan, splattering Ben with his blood before his   
words of warning could register in Dan's ears, Ben cursed himself for forgetting where   
he was. And in his anger, both at himself and at his loss, he shot down the members of   
his posse one by one.

Now as the noose tightens around Ben's neck as they read off his list of sins, Ben has   
only two thoughts on his mind: The first is that no one will ever be hurt by his broken   
promises ever again.

Not even him.

And the second is that when the rope pulls taught against his neck, maybe he'll get to   
see Dan one more time.

Even if it's only in the fleeting memories of a dying man.

 


End file.
